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Posted: 2:22 PM- The Salt Lake City group that had proposed a bowl game for Rice-Eccles Stadium was turned down by the NCAA Postseason Licensing Subcommittee on Wednesday.
Two other bowls, the Congressional Bowl in Washington D.C., and the St. Petersburg Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla., were approved at meetings in Hollywood, Fla. Their creation increases the number of bowl games for the 2008-09 season to 34.
The Rocky Mountain Bowl, proposed for Salt Lake City that would pit a Mountain West Conference team against a Western Athletic Conference team was the only one not licensed.
The subcommittee based the total number of bowls on historical data regarding the typical number of bowl-eligible teams and the licensing criteria used each year to assess the qualifications of the bowl candidates.
"The subcommittee continues to be challenged to provide quality experiences for our student-athletes while balancing that with the number of bowl-eligible teams," said Richard Giannini, director of athletics at the University of Southern Mississippi and chair of the NCAA Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee. "The subcommittee spent a great deal of time reviewing the historical data of bowl eligible teams and feels there is adequate opportunity to fill all bowl positions."
The subcommittee also reviewed bowl revenue and distributions from the 2007-08 season and announced the approximately $222 million in bowl revenue was distributed to participating teams and conferences.
An estimated 1.63 million fans attended the bowl games.